Australian Standard AS3700 promotes the use of “bar chairs” for masonry structures by direct reference to AS3600 Clause 17.2.5 that states:

“All reinforcement, including secondary reinforcement provided for the purpose of maintaining main reinforcement and tendons in position, shall be supported and maintained in position within the tolerances given in Clause 17.5.3 until the concrete has hardened. Bar chairs, spacers and tie wires used for this purpose shall be made of concrete, steel or plastics, as appropriate.”

SAVE MONEY with BLOCKAID

ELIMINATE RISK with BLOCKAID

ACHIEVE COMPLIANCE with BLOCKAID

SAVE MONEY with BLOCKAID

SAVE TIME, SAVE MONEY

With the horizontal reinforcement captured securely by BlockAid, the vertical reinforcement can be inserted in one length through the BlockAids, locating the vertical bars securely during the core filling process and eliminating the need to tie or weld the steel. There are significant savings in construction time by eliminating welding or tying. The time saved by using BlockAid to locate the reinforcement offsets the purchase price of BlockAid, providing risk free compliance at no added cost.

SAVE MATERIAL, SAVE MONEY

When BlockAid is used, the vertical reinforcement is inserted in one length through the BlockAids with no tying or welding required, even on Hi-Risk sites, such as petroleum, ammunition and gas storage, where welding is common practice. By inserting full length vertical bars, a substantial saving in material is achieved, compared to welding multiple lapped vertical bars as the courses are laid.

SAVE LABOUR, SAVE MONEY

On Hi-Risk or Critical sites, such as petroleum, ammunition and gas storage, welding the vertical steel in place as the wall is being built, is common practice. With the use of BlockAid to accurately and securely locate the reinforcement, there is no longer a need to engage a steel fixer to weld the reinforcement, providing a substantial saving in labour.

ELIMINATE RISK with BLOCKAID

ACHIEVE COMPLIANCE TO AUSTRALIAN STANDARD AS3700

BlockAid Bar Chairs accurately locate the horizontal reinforcement as the blocks are laid and provide an aperture for the vertical reinforcement to be inserted into the wall, resulting in an accurate lattice of reinforcement throughout the entire wall, to achieve compliance to Australian Standard AS3700.

Australian Governments, Engineers and Certifiers have a vested interest to specify the mandatory use of “bar chairs for blockwork” to improve work practice and achieve compliance for block walls, thereby ensuring block wall assets are insurable.

ACHIEVE RISK FREE CERTIFICATION

With the reinforcement located and captured by BlockAid, the certifier can easily identify a correctly located lattice of reinforcement throughout the wall to confidently certify that the wall achieves compliance to AS3700, eliminating any risk of litigation for certifying a wall that was found to have non-compliant reinforcement.

ACHIEVE PROTECTION FOR THE ASSET OWNER

To protect owners of masonry block assets there are regulations in place to ensure block walls are built to comply to Australian Standards but evidence shows that the reinforcement in block walls is generally non-compliant. Governments, Structural Engineers, Certifiers, Builders, Construction Companies and Block Layers have a responsibility to owners of assets to ensure masonry block walls are constructed in compliance with AS3700 to achieve durability expectations and to avoid the risk of insurance companies denying claims where walls fail from non-compliant reinforcement.

ACHIEVE RISK FREE INSURABILITY OF MASONRY WALL ASSETS

With the reinforcement located and captured by BlockAid in accordance with AS3700, there is no longer the risk of insurance claims being denied where non-compliant reinforcement is identified as the root cause of the wall failure.

ACHIEVE COMPLIANCE with BLOCKAID

3 COMMON FAILURE MODES:

AS3700-2011: 5.7.2

Failure to support the horizontal reinforcement clear of the web when using flush-ended hollow blocks.

AS3700-2011: 5.7.1 Table 5.1

AS3700-2011: 11.5.3

Failure to maintain lateral tolerance of ±5mm on the placement of reinforcement.

One COMMON SENSE SOLUTION – B L O C K A I D

ACHIEVE COMPLIANCE TO AUSTRALIAN STANDARD AS3700

BlockAid Bar Chairs accurately locate the horizontal reinforcement as the blocks are laid and provide an aperture for the vertical reinforcement to be inserted into the wall, resulting in an accurate lattice of reinforcement throughout the entire wall, to achieve compliance to AS3700.

Australian Governments, Engineers and Certifiers have a vested interest to specify the mandatory use of “bar chairs for blockwork” to improve work practice and achieve compliance for block walls, thereby ensuring block wall assets are insurable.

* The Marine Environment (ISO Category 3) extends inland along the Queensland and NSW coast beyond the general distance of 10 kilometres from the surf coast to about 50 kilometres in exceptional circumstances, which includes the Gold Coast, Newcastle, Sydney and Wollongong, thereby increasing the minimum cover to 15mm in these extended areas.

Save material by eliminating lapped joints in vertical reinforcement.

Eliminate the risk of insurance claims being denied for damage caused by non-compliance

BLOCKAID PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

BANCL190

Locates the horizontal reinforcement in the correct lateral position during construction and provides for the vertical reinforcement to be inserted through the BLOCKAID to ensure the structural integrity of the wall is achieved. Also used to align the Control Joint dowels.

BACL190

Locates the horizontal reinforcing steel in the correct lateral position during construction and provides for the vertical reinforcement to be inserted through the BLOCKAID in the centre of the core to ensure the structural integrity of the wall is achieved.

BANCL290

For use with 290mm blocks (Jumbo Blocks) to locate the horizontal reinforcement in the correct lateral position during construction and provides for the vertical reinforcement to be inserted from the top to the bottom of the wall to ensure the structural integrity of the wall is achieved.

Works in conjunction with the 190mm BlockAids so the vertical reinforcement is able to be inserted through the BANCL190 in the 190mm blocks and align with the BANCL290 in the 290mm blocks.

“BlockAid ensured the wall was built to the specification and that a steel fixer was no longer required. BlockAid eliminated vertical lapped joints to save 35% of vertical steel and BlockAid eliminated lifting blocks over vertical steel bars.”

“The research revealed that the use of BlockAid resulted in a complete wall structure that met the requirements of AS3700-2001 Masonry Structures in terms of achieving correct reinforcement positioning, consistently achieving greater accuracy than conventional best practice. Moreover, it achieved a construction speed comparable with commonly encountered, low quality practices, and resulted in construction times 20% faster than best practice, wire tied techniques.”